Unhappy Circuit
Unhappy Circuit is a new media artist in Korea. His work is based on a fusion of art,
science, technology and multidisciplinary perspective that encompasses linguistics,
anthropology, ecology, futurology, and cosmology.
The main theme that penetrates his work is exploration of unknown. He wants to
expand our perception of the universe and humanity by exploring the possibilities
of unknown beings that we do not know yet, and through this, he wants to
connect finite and lonely lives and minds of humanity with the vast universe.
He has participated in various exhibitions hosted by art institutions such as Hyundai
Motor Group's ZER01NE, Asia Culture Center, Arts Council Korea, C-LAB(Taiwan),
BeFantastic(India), ARCOLABS(Indonesia).
1. 1 HUMAN MESSAGE (2023~)
Project <1 HUMAN MASSAGE> is an Interdisciplinary space art to transmit <1 HUMAN MASSAGE>, a short record and data on the time of a
one human being's life, in the vast universe.
Unhappy Circuit seeks to expand human existence into the universe by transmitting <1 HUMAN MESSAGE>, a short record and data on the
time a one human has lived on Earth, to outer space. This is the effort to reach the furthest universe as a human being, to reconnect the
universe with all human lives and minds that began in the universe but were disconnected from the universe, and to form a cosmic connection
between all isolated beings in the universe and humanity beyond cosmic silence.
＜1 HUMAN MESSAGE＞, 2023
-Interdisciplinary space art consisting of a message and device designed
for transmission into space, and performances that transmit a message
into outer space
-Digital text and sound data, electronic devices, performance and
documentational photography
-Supported by Arts Council Korea
-Currently ongoing project
Project <1 HUMAN MESSAGE> is Interdisciplinary space art consisting of <1
HUMAN MESSAGE>, a short record and data on the time a one human has lived
on Earth, <1 HUMAN MESSAGE Transmission Log>, a log that records journey to
transmit the message into outer space and <1HMT-1>, a mobile interstellar radio
transmitter.
Compared to the cosmic time, our lives are like a moment. That is why we hope
that our lives can have some meaning in the universe. <1 HUMAN MASSAGE>
extends the meaning of human life, spirit into the universe by connecting the time
of human existence and cosmic time and further forms a cosmic connection with
all isolated, finite, and lonely beings in the universe.
1 HUMAN MESSAGE
Transmission Log 1
2023-06-07 16:00
37°34'20.6"N 126°58'38.2"E
2.4 GHz
5008 bits
313 seconds
Direction to NGC 2419
(The Intergalactic Wanderer)
2. Astrolinguistics (2020~)
From 2020 to the present, Unhappy Circuit is working on a project to develop a language system for communication with extraterrestrial
intelligence. In particular, he wants to design a new language system that can convey the way of thinking, cultures, and various abstract
concepts of human being contained in human language to extraterrestrial intelligence by linking mathematics and logic, the languages of the
universe, with human language. In other words, He aims to prepare for a cosmic conversation between stars by designing a system of the
human language dictionary for the unknown in the universe.
Series of
＜Interstellar Message Written in Languages of the Earth＞
2020~2022
Language interacts with the way of thinking, emotion and culture of the
beings who use it. This means that language is the most important thing
for mutual understanding.
This series of works is the process of designing and developing the
interstellar message, which contains structured information about
human language and civilization for communication with extraterrestrial
intelligence. In particular, in order to reflect the diversity and uniqueness
of the human languages, This series continuously expands interest to the
languages of the marginalized world.
In addition, These works convey the message of Earth’s climate change
to the universe. This message, which symbolizes the present of humanity,
forms a consensus between the two civilizations living in this universe,
while transforming our own view of ourselves into cosmic perspective.
These interstellar messages are an echo of the universe toward ourselves.
＜Interstellar Message Written in 9 Languages of the Earth＞
2022, C-LAB, Taiwan
-Two-dimensional digital data on human language and
civilization for extraterrestrial intelligence
-1-channel video, 2-channel sound, 14’56”
-Archive video: https://youtu.be/43SlQ2M4nTg
＜Interstellar Message Written in Hangeul＞, 2021
Ars Electronica .ART Gallery
-Two-dimensional digital data on human language and
civilization for extraterrestrial intelligence
-7919*7919 pixels of digital image
＜Interstellar Message Written in 6 Languages of the Earth＞
2021, Asia Culture Center
-Two-dimensional digital data on human language and
civilization for extraterrestrial intelligence
-1-channel video, 2-channel sound, 11’35”
-Archive video: https://youtu.be/43SlQ2M4nTg
＜Interstellar Message Written in Hangeul＞, 2020
National Library of Korea
-Two-dimensional digital data on human language and
civilization for extraterrestrial intelligence
-3-channel video, 2-channel sound, Text
-Archive video: https://youtu.be/wvC5neCteEs
2. Artificial Intelligence (2018~2019)
Between 2018 and 2019, the Unhappy Circuit focused on artificial intelligence as a major theme and medium for his work. He divides
artificial intelligence into three big perspectives:
artificial intelligence as a new human being, artificial intelligence as a technology that
complements humans, and artificial intelligence as a mirror that reflects humans
.
First of all,
artificial intelligence as anew human being
literally means artificial intelligence as anew intellectual being that has evolved into
a human-like or transcending human beings. In other words, it means artificial intelligence as a true posthuman. On the other hand,
artificial intelligence as a technology that complements humans
refers to the perspective of recognizing artificial intelligence as a new
technological tool. While the previous view is based on futuristic perspective, the latter is the perspective of artificial intelligence in the
present era. Finally,
artificial intelligence as a mirror that reflects humans
is a humanistic or artistic perspective of artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence is learning about humanity through data. The results generated by such artificial intelligence reveal nature of
humanity.
After all, for the Unhappy Circuit, artificial intelligence is a technology that has the potential to become a new human being someday, and
a technology that has the greatest impact on our lives at the moment, and an artistic medium that reflects nature of our humanity.
＜A Synthetic Song Beyond the Sea＞, 2019
-Ambient music in which blue whale vocalization and human music are converged by artificial intelligence
-2-channel projection, 2-channel sound, 4’29’’
-Collected by Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art
-Exhibited at Bengaluru International Centre, Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art
-Supported by Korea Creative Content Agency and Art Center Nabi
-Archive video: https://youtu.be/SmEvkJTvBaA
Whales, like humans, can feel and express emotions, live in a complex society, and have a language system for communication. In addition, Whales have evolved together by sharing an
ancestor with all mammals on the Earth, including humans. However, humans have long threatened the survival of whales, which still persists nowadays.
This work is an attempt to create music that whales and humans can listen to and interact with by converging blue whale vocalization and human music using artificial intelligence. Through
this attempt, the work depicts the future in which whales and humans understand each other and coexist together.
Through the life and death of whales, we can face the true nature of humanity. This is not irrelevant to the numerous tragedies in human history that have occurred without understanding
each other and the current situation of human civilization that still lives with the potential to destroy ourselves.
＜Learning About Humanity＞, 2019
-Cooking performance with the recipe generated by artificial intelligence
-2-channel projection, 4-channel sound, 20’
-Exhibited at Asia Culture Center
-Supported by Asia Culture Center
-Archive video: https://youtu.be/95iyi_BfDN4
The geological term Anthropocene means that modern human civilization has a great influence on the global ecosystem. In particular, chickens that are slaughtered about 65 billion a year,
are considered a symbol of the Anthropocene.
As the era of abundance due to the industrialization of livestock breeding and slaughter continues, we also forget that the meat we commonly encounter in our daily lives was once a living
creature. In particular, despite occurring in the process of rearing and slaughtering livestock, uncomfortable truths that we have been trying to ignore makes us ask ourselves questions about
humanity.
Artificial intelligence learns human beings through massive amounts of data, and the result reflects humanity like a mirror. After all, the chicken dish generated by artificial intelligence is
the
mirror for humanity
that reveals the true nature of humanity behind the abundance of modern human civilization.
＜i Remember＞,2019
-Images and sounds generated by artificial intelligence that learned human memory
-1-channel projection, 2-channel sound, 20’
-Exhibited at Platform-L Contemporary Art Center
-Supported by Arts Council Korea
-Archive video: https://youtu.be/ncnhnyX4WmY
For humans, memory means our own identity. Losing my memories is like losing myself. Memories are our lives. However, human memory is very incomplete. Therefore, humans have
recorded and preserved their memories on various media to compensate for the imperfections of biological memory. From prehistoric cave murals to computer memory, humans are rapidly
evolving by expanding the brain's area of storing memories to new media with the advancement of technology.
Now, the memory extends to artificial intelligence. Are there indescribable features that only the moments of experiences have in memories? Or are memories just data that can be copied and
transmitted all the time? If memories are just data, Is it possible for artificial intelligence to learn human memories? If it is possible for artificial intelligence to learn human memories, would
artificial intelligence that learned my memories be me? In this work, artificial intelligence learns the memory of a one person's mother and generates new images and sounds. Whose memory
is the generated audio visual sequence?
3. Computer music and algorithmic audiovisual
(2014~2017)
Unhappy Circuit began his artistic career with experimental computer music based on glitch and noise sounds. After continuing his career in the
underground electronic music scene in Korea, he expanded his career to the field of new media art by exploring the methodology and expression
form of audio visuals based on computer algorithms.
＜Music of Memories＞,2017
-Audio-visualization of digitized human language and computer memory process
-2-channel projection, 4-channel sound, 20’
-Exhibited at Asia Culture Center
-Supported by Asia Culture Center
-Archive video: https://youtu.be/QK3PQacIgA0
The encoding system of Morse Code, which digitizes human language in a binary system, is similar to the digital system of computers. This work illuminates the boundary between humans
and computers based on the similarity.
Human language digitized by Morse Code is reminiscent of a complex computational algorithm and transforms the entire space into a huge computer memory core. And this computer
memory process is gradually resembling human memory.
After all, this work closely connects languages and code, memories and data, and humans and computers by breaking the boundaries through Morse Code.
<Just Waiting for a Happy Ending>, 2014
-Label: 3rddan Records
-Format: Album (CD, Digital)
-Country: Worldwide
-Release date: 2014.03.14.
-Genre: Electronic
-Style: Glitch/Noise
-Music video: https://youtu.be/SqtouftaqII
<Just Waiting for a Happy Ending> is Unhappy Circuit's debut album released in
2014. His music during this period expressed the emotions of sorrowful machine
boy's with glitch/noise sounds. His name, Unhappy Circuit, is also related to these
emotions and expressions.
In particular, in this album, he focused on narrative integrity by connecting an
experimental sound technique called glitch with emotions such as loneliness,
sadness, and depression. It was a process of planting human emotions into a cold
machine, and a fierce effort to reflect the sound of a broken mind.
Solo exhibition
2022,＜Conversational AI for Interstellar Diplomacy v1.0＞, Gallery P1, Korea
2019,＜i Remember＞, Platform-L Contemporary Art Center, Supported by Arts Council Korea, Korea
Group exhibition
In Korea
2022,＜ZER01NE Day 2022: Futureground＞, Hyundai Motor Group’s ZER01NE
2021, ＜JMoCA 2021 New Collection: Closely Closely＞, Jeju Museum of Contemporary
Art
2021,＜AI X ART＞, National Science Museum, Web exhibition
2021,＜4X 4WALLS: ACC Media Wall Shocase＞, Asia Culture Center
2021,＜ZER01NE Day 2021: Playground＞, Hyundai Motor Group’s ZER01NE
2021,＜Refrigerator Illusion＞, Asia Culture Center
2020,＜Sense of Knowledge＞, National Library of Korea
2020,＜ZER01NE Day 2020: P:Layers＞, Hyundai Motor Group’s ZER01NE
2019,＜ACT Showcase: Art & Science＞, Asia Culture Center
2019,＜Creative Code＞, Art Center Nabi
2019,＜ACT Festival: Food Hack＞, Asia Culture Center
2017,＜ACC Young Creator Incubation in Performing Arts＞, Asia Culture Center
Outside of Korea
2023,＜Futrue Fantastic Festival＞, Bangalore International Centre, BeFantastic, India
2022,＜The Unrestricted Society＞, C-LAB, Taiwan
2021,＜ConcreteHouse.ART＞, Ars Electronica .ART Gallery, Virtual exhibition
Collection
2021, Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea
Selection
2022, <Public Art: New Hero>, Public Art Magazine, Korea
Award
2018,＜6th Bio Art International Contest＞, Main prize, Seoul National University BICON, Korea
Academic
2022, Accepted for <Leonardo Graduate Abstracts>, Leonardo/ISAST
2020, Accepted for ＜SIGGRAPH Asia 2020: Art Gallery＞, ACM SIGGRAPH
Discography
2019,＜A Synthetic Song Beyond the Sea＞, Single
2017,＜Dreams＞, Single
2014,＜Just Waiting for a Happy Ending＞, Album
Article
2020, ＜Unhappy Circuit searches for extraterrestrials＞, Henry Bruce-Jones, FACT
Magazine
